NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Shenandoah University women's cross country team completed its season Saturday with a 13^th place finish at the NCAA South Region Championships.
 
Running the 6000-meter race at Lee Hall Mansion in Newport News, the Hornets had 357 points to come in 20 points back of Meredith and 36 clear of Oglethorpe (Ga.).
 
IN BRIEF
ODAC champion Lynchburg won it 30 points with Emory (Ga.) second and Washington & Lee third.
 
Graduate student Erin Atkinson paced SU with a 24:14.7 to finish 18^th overall and likely clinch her spot in next week's NCAA Championships field. She also earned All-Region honors with her finish and is just the third woman in program history to earn multiple All-Region accolades.
 
The top seven runners not on an NCAA qualifying team earn bids to the championship, and Atkinson is in as long as Emory earns one of the at-large bids into the championship.
 
Official entries will be announced Sunday at noon. If Atkinson qualifies, she would be the program's first-ever repeat national championships participant. Last season, she finished 286th in a championship held at Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Kentucky.
 
Madeline Lotts was 63^rd, Mackenzie Plowman 96^th, Sarah Christy 100^th, and Allie Clarkson 101^st to round out the Hornets qualifying runners.
 
Emma Nicely was 113^th and Cora Helman 127^th in finishes that did not count toward the team score.
 
UP NEXT
The 2022 NCAA Division III National Championship field is announced Sunday with the competition set for Saturday, Nov. 19 at Forest Akers Golf Course in East Lansing, Michigan. Olivet University is the championships host.
 
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